Historic win for Wicklow Woodpecker crew shine
THE Woodpecker Bar, Ashford, celebrated a historic weekend for Wicklow Darts over the May Bank Holiday Weekend when they won the Pubs and Clubs All-Ireland Darts competition which took place in the Green Isle Hotel in Dublin with teams from all over Ireland (32 counties) taking part.
Managed by Martin Fortune and captained by Mick Lott, who were also apart of the 10-man strong panel, the team were in awesome form from the word go on Saturday, winning their opening two games 7-0 and going through the group unbeaten to secure top place and qualification for Sunday’s knockout stage.
On the Sunday, the team took on Newbawn of Wexford, the reigning champions in the quarter-finals finals but the Woodpecker men kicked off in great style and eventually saw out the win 4-2.
The semi-finals seen the lads take on Egan’s Bar of Kilkenny and despite going 2-1 down the Woodpecker kicked into overdrive and came back for another 4-2 win.
The final between the Woodpecker and Kerry was always going to be a nervous affair played on the stage, however, to look at the Pecker lads you would think they were made for it, settling in very quickly with some really top qualify darts, and eventually winning the final 4-2 to make it a historic weekend for Wicklow darts.
“It’s been an amazing weekend, I still can’t believe it, It’s been a pleasure to look after these lads all weekend, the respect shown by the team to each other and the management was fantastic and the team spirit we showed even when behind was amazing, the lads never gave up and kept fighting all the way,” captain Mick Lott said after the event.
“To bring an All-Ireland trophy to Wicklow is incredible, and the future looks bright, hopefully this is the first of many.
“I would like to thank Alan and Nikki Dignam in the Woodpecker for all their kind sponsorship of the team, we have five teams in total in the Woodpecker.
“Alan (Dignam), who was there to lift the trophy, was extremely proud.
“It’s great to give something back for all their support towards our team,” he added.